Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Howard Out … But For How Long?

“Ryan Howard saw Dr. Myerson on Monday. As you know Dr. Myerson did his surgery in October. When (Howard) was up there, Dr. Myerson did a small procedure to basically clean out his sutures and clean out this wound that he has. Dr. Myerson has consulted with infectious disease doctors. Ryan is going to be placed on antibiotic medication. We’ll be consulting with Dr. Myerson later today and in the next couple days about how this is going to affect the rehab program. The biggest thing right now is we have to protect the wound and make sure that the healing occurs, then begin to move forward from there.”

Q: So he’s inactive for at least a few days?
A: He’s going to be inactive for a few days, yeah. He’s going to be back here later today, and we’ll keep on treating him here.

Q: A lot has been made of the word “setback.” Can you consider this a setback?
A: I don’t prefer to use that word. I know that’s what everybody wants to use. We had never established a particular time frame for him, and right now it’s one of those things that happens in the rehab process. We just have to move forward from it.

Q: How did Dr. Myerson say he liked the integrity of the Achilles?
A: Good question. That was our biggest concern going into this, and that was one of the things during the procedure that he confirmed. The Achilles tendon is intact and not compromised.

Q: So is that good news?
A: That’s great news.

Q: So is the overall good news?
A: I don’t think anytime you have an infection that’s good news, but I think from the standpoint from the things that could happen and didn’t happen, whatever, we’re pleased that the biggest thing is the Achilles is intact. There was no compromise of that.

Q: Roughly, when do you think he could resume activities?
A: I have no idea yet. We plan to talk to Dr. Myerson over the next couple days, see how he responds to the antibiotics and we’ll go from there.

Q: Are we talking weeks or days?
A: I truly don’t know that answer.

Q: He had been running straight ahead, etc. I’m sure you had a timeline when you’d begin other drills. That’s got to push that back, right?
A: The things that Ryan had been doing right now were very good. We had already done some basic cutting stuff with him. We’re hoping we can kind of move forward from here it won’t push us back too much.

Q: Did they stitch the wound?
A: Yeah, it’ll be just like a new wound. That’s why we’re going to have to protect that healing area. So there will be some days where we just need to make sure that continues to heal and that we don’t really set ourselves up for any problems down the line.

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33 Comments

I did my Achilles and had the same issue. Now this was 20 years ago, but an infection is an infection. The “setback” is that the sutures have to heal all over again, plus the infection has to clear. For whatever reason (lack of blood flow mainly) stitches don’t seem to heal as fast down there. IMO this talk of a May 1st return has been a pipe dream even without this issue. My bet is July 1st for active roster.

Jimmymack, I was afraid of any setback. I posted all along that I would have felt better if the Phils would SLOW Ryan down, because I knew he would rush to get back as soon as possible and would compromise the healing process, which is what it seems he has done. Charlie just mentioned recently that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Ryan play a few Grapefruit League games. I was hoping he’d be back at the end of May or beginning of June. Now we’re probably looking at July, like you posted, or a cycle of this happening for the rest of the year and Ryan never plays a game…….. Someone should lose their their job over this fiasco!

Erich, I hardly think his getting an infection has anything to do with the pace of his rehab. It’s a setback, but sometimes shit happens. It’s ridiculous to suggest that somebody lose their job over it.

Wow – overreact much? It is a setback (in spite of what the Phillies say) but it’s still February (barely). It’s not like he was running full speed or anything.
Their timetable was aggressive, but how much slower could he go?

people, he has an infection-something that we’ve all had countless times. He’ll take it easy for a week and then start again. The important thing is The Achilles tendon is intact and not compromised. Stop looking for the bad in everything. Enjoy the ride this team is giving us

Aaaaha, finally, something this crew knows less about than baseball – medicine. But then again, maybe baseball and medicine are the same in that both are a combination of art and science. The issue for both appears to be getting the right combination. Regardless, several here look like the guy who goes to his proctologist for a rhinoplasty but then wants to complain about the results because he looks like an asshole.

The danger about stepping away from the computer, dropping the Cheetos, leaving Mom’s basement and going out into the world is that one might actually learn something.

Yes, we have all had infections. But an infection at the site of sutures? I think not. Of course getting an infection has nothing to do with the pace of rehab. Except, maybe it does when rehab is started before enough healing has occurred. Healing from surgery is not the same as the healing of an abrasion from a skinned knee or elbow. It progresses both from outside-in and inside-out. And, in some cases, fistulas happen. I once met a WW II veteran who had a shrapnel wound to the ankle. He had had it for 30+ years at the time and it remained open having never healed.

Junior reported that Howard has been experiencing sernomas at the site of his sutures. From what I can gather, a sernoma is similar to a blister. Minor? Perhaps. But is a positional player getting recurrent or multiple “blisters” on his ankle any different than a pitcher getting a blister on his pitching hand? Regardless, the day after Junior reported Howard’s sernomas others reported it as an “open wound”.

A toxic mix: Junior’s ego and Howard’s ego and Charlie’s ego. This isn’t a case of let the man heal as much as it is a case of make the man heal.

Thank you Pherris for covering the issue that I was thinking about. It seems painfully clear that Ryan had NOT completely healed from the surgery and was allowed to engage in baseball activities/ start his rehab. Of course muleman and phan52 are surgeons and experts on the healing process so they shot me down like I was a moron. I just hope we didn’t all hear $25 million dollars get flushed down the toilet this year…..

muleman and phan52, how is it that you guys know that Ryan’s infection was caused internally? Because allowing a player to rehab before all external infection is healed would be incompetant beeyond belief.

If, like Pherris posted the healing occurs from the outside-in and from the inside-out, doesn’t it seem obvious to make sure the inside is healed too before beginning rehab? Because unless you guys are morons, you can’t possibly believe that a completely healed ankle could generate it’s own bacteria to cause the infection.

What do I mean, muleman? Are you referring being called out for your fractured English or the evidence of your superior home schooling education? Sheeesh, we expect more from the guy who moans about incorrect spellings of players names posted here.

Yes, Karen, I keep things amusing but the biggest joke is the Quarter Whits, aka a phan52 and muleman. Quarter Whit is the product of there knowledge. I say Quarter Whits because it is the product of one Half Whit times one Half Whit. And, hey Babe, keep egging me on.

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